Page "Mindanao" Paragraph 12

The east-facing coastal regions of Davao and Surigao del Sur are marked by a series of small coastal lowlands separated from each other by rugged forelands which extend to the water ’ s edge.

Offshore are numerous coral reefs and tiny islets.

This remote and forbidding coast is made doubly difficult to access during the months from October to March by the heavy surf driven before the northeast trade winds.

A few miles offshore is found the Mindanao or Philippine Deep.

This ocean trench, reaching measured depths of, marks one of the greatest depths known on the earth ’ s surface.